It took 2 full days to gather with William and Rubens armies at the edge of the Black Wood territory.
Gunnar had been reassigned to be Jack's army cavalry captain.
The trade that ensued with the other lords had gained Jack much.
He especially gave good prices for horses and sulfur, and the lord's and their trading civilians gladly took the pure gold nuggets in trade.
Jack now had many normal horse-ranches in his territory.
Enough for work and breeding.
His armies each had 5000 common riders as well.
"William, go to the left side of the territory, Ruben go to the right side. I will enter here from the center. We will meet at the natural path through the mountains."
Jack had already decided to attack the territory from three sides, overwhelming whatever beasts and boss resided there now.
"Tomorrow when the sun rises, we will all enter the woods!"
The army split in 3 and Jack made camp.
Tents were raised at the edge of the looming trees of blackwood, and his troops dipped into their daily rations of crazed-honey bread and healing chocolate bite.
The camp was calm, Gunnars cavalry had patrols in every direction. His troops in high spirits around the campfires and Jack felt very comfortable for the first time in a very long period of heavy clouds.
'I feel like a layer of my scar has been lifted. The air seem more pure, the details of life around me more vivid...'
Jack was truly beginning to heal from his captive ordeal.
With nothing else to do before the sun rose the next day, he decided to spend some time on the global chat.
It had been a long time since he just listened to the earth-humans talk.
Angelica: It's true! I swear! I saw the former global ranked one, Lord Jack, with my own eyes! I even faught in the infamous battle that you've all heard about!
Solidbitch: There is no way that Jack is still alive. Noone has ever seen him on the chat! And he lost his position in the rankings during the lord-wars!
Blaze: Angelica is right. I was there aswell. So was Ramisesthegoat and 7 others from our trade alliance.
Pichu: If that's true, then I can't believe it! How can he already have multiple towns and cities! Not to mention a duo-castle and tens of thousand of common troops!
Wayfarer: Pichu is right! Those city walls, troops and castles alone, would cost millions of gold coins! Then comes all the civilians and all the infrastructure! It's simply impossible to have amassed such wealth in less than a year!
Kingslayer: Of course they are lying! The trade alliance just wants to intimidate you! Don't listen to them or you'll end up as just a lowly lord in that alliance! Instead, come to the east before the toxic swamps areas. My 'Slayer-alliance' will take you in and we won't lie to you!
Ramisesthegoat: Think what you will! But Lord Jack is real and our entire alliance is booming from the trade we makes on his shores! Don't offend him and make him an enemy! You have been warned!
Kingslayer: Bwuhahahaha! What a joke! If he is real, all he would have to do is say 'hi'! But where is he? Your trade alliance is pathetic and should be careful before your lies costs you your lives!
Hundreds of lords agreed with Kingslayer in this. The audacity and plain lies of the beach-lords trade alliance was becoming too much.
Though a few lords outside Ramises alliance, still wondered if they could be speaking the truth.
Jack decided to break the mistrust amongst his fellow earth-humans at this point.
He was resting well in his tent, with a full belly and a nice beer from Ramises plantation and brewery.
Jack: Hi everyone. Yeah, I'm real.
Was all he sent, laid back down, took a huge gulp of his beer and watched the flood of new messages.
Kingslayer: What? You're real? Where are you located?
Solidbitch: hahahaha so he finally shows himself! Where have you been hiding?
Many hundreds others commented, but Jack couldn't answer them all.
Many wanted to know more about him.
Why had he joined the trade alliance?
Why didn't he speak before now?
How did he manage to get multiple towns?
Where was he located?
Was he willing to trade outside the alliance?
The flood was endless, but primarily people wanted to know where he lived. If that was for genuine trade purposes or more hostile intents, Jack didn't know, and he didn't actually care.
None of those lords could possibly pose a threat to him. Even if they somehow came to the path into the peninsula.
Soon 150.000 common troops would be blocking that path.
His own war-ships and the entire trade alliances vessels was blocking the sea.
Jack: I am in the mountain enclosed peninsula. I will have you know, that very soon, all the territories and it's mountains will be under my domain. If you have hostile intentions, you'll just run into a suicide. However if you seek trade, the water way is open and the trade alliance can help you. The ground route is still too dangerous and closed. I don't recommend anyone trying to reach me that way.
After this, Jack made the chat go ablaze. But he didn't respond any further.
[RamisesTheGoat: You've just made the trade alliance gain a huge wave of member applications with a single chat... If we accept even half of these our numbers will raise to the thousands... I don't know what to say Jack. But as the founder of the alliance, I owe you much.]
Seeing the private chat, Jack chose to reply right away.
[Jack: I'm sorry if I made trouble for you. However the race war made me keenly aware that humanity not only needs to, but HAVE to band together. The planet of Prime is vast. Who knows what we will face next? This time we managed to repel two reptilian lords. What if an alliance of thousands awaits us beyond the unexplored territories?]
[RamisesTheGoat: I've been thinking the same, which is why you haven't exactly made trouble for me. On the contrary, the more who joins the alliance, the stronger we will be! Yes it will be a hassle to incorporate them. Especially those who live far inland. But that's a minor inconvenience compared to the benefit of a strong alliance.]
[Jack: I will see you at the festival. In the meantime I will try to conquer the rest of the peninsula.]
[RamisesTheGoat: The core alliance members will also be busy now. Just remember that your seat is firmly secure! Happy hunting Jack!]
With this Jack simply closed the chat.
He had a few million gold coins and checked the other tabs in the lord system.
The General Goods tap still had diverse, cheap and essential items for sale.
Resources were still being sold, but in very small amounts or huge bulks. Many lords simply had their own way to procure stone and wood at this point, so mostly iron was for sale.
There were still random gear items for sale, yet most had likewise been changed to manual trade, and nothing caught his eye.
The same was true about most treasures.
Trade hubs like Ramises town and like what Ocean City was becoming, was popping up all over Prime.
These locations offered security, a vast variety of items and completely bypassed the systems 50% buyers fee.
However as Jack casually scrolled through the sections, a previously empty one had become slightly dense.
Troop summoning portals.
Apparently many territories and their bosses had begun to drop the corresponding beast, monster or unit as a summonable troop.
Take the centaurs for example.
Jack counted 14 of such summoning portals of trash ranked centaurs.
This was a huge amount, even if Planet Prime was unfathomable large. 14 summon portals was still huge.
A single portal went in the price range of 500.000 to two million gold coins, and then ofcourse came the buyers fee.
Many more monster portals could be bought here.
Trolls, Goblins, a large variations of beast creatures and even a few elemental spirits.
There were even sea-creatures, the only one he though he knew was the 'Murloc' summoning stone.
Yet the prices varied and Jack didn't actually need different kinds of troops.
However he still casually bought the two cheapest Centaur summoning stones and instantly he was 1.500.000 gold coins poorer.
Jack went outside and flipped the two glowing gems in his hands.
The sun was setting over the mountains and his troops where mostly inside the tents or hanging around the fires.
Jack went to the edge of the camp where the cavalry was located and found Gunnar.
"Emperor! What brings you here at this hour?"
Gunnar bowed deeply and his troops did the same.
Jack noticed how Gunnar had used the word 'Emperor' and knew it had to do with the fact that he had changed his domain path. But he would look into that later.
"Don't be so tense. You can stop bowing now" Jack smiled to Gunnar and the troops.
"I have a few new toys, and you'll be in charge of them"
Jack gestured for Gunnar to follow.
At the edge of his cavalry camp, Jack threw the two gems on the ground.
[Centaur, trash rank. Cost: 10 Gold Coins]
[25.000 Gold Coins received. 2500 Centaurs summoned. Completion time: Approximately 7 hours]
Jack went to the other stone and bought the same amount.
"In about 7-8 hours, there will be 5000 new Centaur trash troops under your command. Equip them with what we can spare from the resource wagons. I expect you to fully incorporate them into your cavalry before we enter the Blackwoods."
Gunnar looked at Jack with awe.
'Such power... To be able to just procure forces out of thin air... And now even more different kinds. And mobile ones like these... It will save us a lot of resources and horses!"
Gunnar had been accustomed to be on horseback and commanding cavalry. He knew exactly how precious this event could be.
"As you will Emperor! It shall be done!"
Gunnar flashed a smile that Jack reciprocated before he turned and left for his tent.
He would gladly accept the peaceful hours of sleep before a new territory had to be claimed by force.